Well, the bad news has arrived--Hna Hosking is getting transferred
and my LIFE IS OVER. Not really, but I am super bummed about it. Only one
transfer together? This is the pits. But I’m sure my next companion will be
great just like the other 4 have been great! I am not super excited about taking over
Waller when I have only been out here one transfer though because GUESS WHAT, I
don’t know how to get ANYWHERE. My poor
new companion is going to think I’m the worst. Whoops. I definitely slept during car rides. (#sorrynotsorry)

We had a good week. There was one particular subject that
really seemed to be the theme of this week for me—that was faith. I was
studying about faith and just really thinking a lot about faith.

We taught a lesson to a woman named D. She investigated the
Church for a long time. We found her kinda by accident. But then again, there
are no accidents as a missionary. We began teaching her and she had a LOT of
doubts. She told us of an experience she had with the missionaries that was
somewhat of a miracle. She said they watched a movie about a girl who doubted
some things in her life and one day prayed for help. She opened her scriptures
and there was a rose that she hadn’t seen before and it was like a book mark.It lead her to read something she really
needed. D told us that after the movie ended she opened her Book of Mormon
and there, sitting in her scriptures, was the same rose that was just in the
movie. She said everyone started crying because it was a miracle. She later
decided not to join the Church.

It made me reflect on the critical importance of faith in
our lives and how miracles never were and never will be any replacement for the
needed characteristic of faith. Dad used to tell me all the time that if people
don’t have faith than even miracles wouldn’t be enough. I have now experienced that.

I was reading one day in Alma 32, aka “the faith chapter”, and
these verses really caught my attention. How many times have I read Alma 32 in
my life? About 3,000. But, these stood
out to me in a whole new light:

17 Yea, there are many who do say: If thou wilt show unto us
a sign from heaven, then we shall know of a surety; then we shall believe.

18 Now I ask, is this
faith? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; for if a man knoweth a thing he hath no
cause to believe, for he knoweth it.

19 And now, how much more
cursed is he that knoweth the will of God and doeth it not, than he that only
believeth, or only hath cause to believe, and falleth into transgression?

I am so grateful for the mercy of God in allowing us to
trust in Him, instead of forcing knowledge upon us. How condemned a people would we be otherwise?

I invite you all to grow your faith every day – to seek for
the Lord in all things you do. Just be trusting instead of doubtful. Faith
fills you with peace. Doubt fills you with fear. Real life--I’ve lived it.

Monday, November 11, 2013

Ya’ll, I have had an awesome
week. Like, an awesome week. We were busy, and we pounded pavement. We taught
powerfully.We found new investigators
and people started to DO stuff. It was a great week.

I wanted to write and tell ya’ll
about J. J is a member of our English
class. (Have I told you that we teach English classes?)He is a really cool guy. He is in his 40's and lives here alone. He has
a wife and two girls in Mexico. He is so respectful and kind. I just love J. One of the things that I love about J is that
he DOES stuff. As a missionary, you teach a lot, but sometimes people don’t
really enjoy acting on the things that you are teaching them. For example, we
will be like: "Will you read this pamphlet before we come over in 3
days?" and people will say, "Sure! Yeah!"Then we go over 3 days later and we ask: "How did you like that pamphlet?" They
are like, "Oh, . . . well, I was really busy and I didn’t have time to
read it." So, what you are telling
me is that this 5"x 7", 5 page long pamphlet, that has pictures and a
large font, that you could literally read through in 6 minutes, was too much? You really need to loosen up your schedule. .
. . It really isn’t that difficult. (Sorry, rant over.)

So, that is what usually happens
when we teach people. But THEN we met J. We gave J all the pamphlets at once
(unorthodox, I know) and the next time we saw him, he had read all of them. We
were like, "J, what!? You read all the pamphlets!?" He said: "Well....yeah...? They are
really small." Why can’t everyone have that attitude? They ARE really
small J! You are absolutely correct! In addition to reading things he has come
to every activity, church, the temple and a baptism. He is the best! And get
this, we have never even really taught J, yet. We have had a couple short lessons with him,
but mostly he is just ridiculously prepared and willing to do anything without
us even teaching him. I just really love J.

That is just the tip of the iceberg
with the good things happening here is Waller.

Hna Hosking and I have been
walking a lot and that gives us a lot of time to talk. We talk about a lot of
things, but this week we were talking about what we are doing here as
missionaries. What our expectations were and how things have panned out. We
talked about how grateful we are to be missionaries. We spend all day, every
day, talking to people about Jesus Christ. We meet the weirdest, most unique,
and coolest people every. single. day. We
have spent hours sitting and helping people cope with things that we have no
experience in. We get chased by all sorts of animals. People buy us random stuff.
When would we ever, ever, have these
experiences? It is such a blessing, and I love it so much. I love you all!

Thursday, November 7, 2013

A mouse lives in our apartment. Would you like to know how I learned this?
Well, let me tell you.

Sunday morning I was just living my life like I do every day
with no fear that at any moment we would be turning over all furniture to catch
a small vermon. So, I sit down at my
desk and grab my purse and put it on my lap. Before I know it, a small mouse runs out of my
purse, onto my lap, and is running up my tummy. I kind of mini-scream, and the poor little
mouse jumps from my stomach to the ground. The fall clearly disoriented the poor guy because
for the first few seconds he ran all sideways. We grab bowls and go to work on catching this
mouse. Long story short, Hna Hosking is
screaming, all of our furniture in turned over after a wild, literal mouse
chase. I am standing there on the edge
of tears feeling so bad for how scared the mouse must feel. It was so cute and it was so small. We lost the mouse after chasing it for like 10
minutes. It disappeared. We have no idea where it went. So, there is a mouse living in our house........somewhere.

Other than that, not a ton happened this week. But I do
have one story to share. So, here it is:

There is a recent convert here named M. He was in a
tragic accident and lost a lot of his brain function. His talking is really hard to understand, but
the more time you spend with him the easier it gets. We were like, "M, you are going to
teach US all of the lessons." He
was super excited.We gave him the
Restoration pamphlet and then came back a few days later so he could teach us. He stands up in front of us and teaches us the
Restoration. He does a great job and he starts bowing and I say: "M,
what is your testimony about this?" He looks at us and is, like: "Well . .
.I don’t believe the Book of Mormon is
true." Sister Hosking and I look at each other like "WHAT?
M!?" So, she says:"Wait, you DON’T believe it is
true?" He says: "Nope." Then, falling into his chair, he says: "Asi es, Pagina!”

So let me explain that. Hna Hosking's name is Paige. "Page"
in Spanish is pagina. So, as a joke a
lot of us call her Pagina. “Asi es” means, "like this" or
"this is how it is" or "thus it is". So, he just falls in his chair and goes: "Asi es, Pagina!" Sister Hosking and
I have to pick our jaws up from the ground and she just goes:"Where did that attitude come from
M!?" As I am writing this
story, I realize it was totally a moment you had to be there to realize how
funny it was/you really have to know M. But, just take my word that it was hilarious. And don’t worry, he believes in the Book of
Mormon.

Oh M.

I love you all. Keep the faith. Be obedient. Be good. Smile
at someone today.